“Partner?” Detective Rogers questioned. “Yes, Rogers?” Lieutenant Wesley said. “I’m sure you’ll do well to make her feel welcome.”“I didn’t ask for a partner, Lieutenant,” he pointed out. “I can take care of myself perfectly.”Lieutenant Wesley turned to Jain who seemed lost in the middle of everything. “Can you give us a minute, Reynolds?” He asked. Jain nodded and walked out of the door. Lieutenant Wesley rose from his desk and slammed both hands on his desk. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rogers?” He barked through his gritted teeth. “Lieutenant. I don’t need a partner,” Stanley pointed out. “I’ve been riding solo for two years now.”“Well, that’s over now. It’s either you get used to having someone watching your back or you get lost.”Stanley Rogers sighed. He needed a cigarette badly, but he couldn’t smoke in here. That would get on Lieutenant Wesley’s nerves. “Fine.”“What? I didn’t get that.”Stanley knew that Lieutenant Wesley had heard him perfectly. He was
Dayton Veeschoris was happy when he arrived at the lobby of his apartment floor in one piece. Every day seemed to be his last lately. Ever since that night he almost got killed, he had always watched his back and made sure he didn’t do anything stupid. He was hiding from them, and he knew they would come after him soon. Nobody could escape them. They had hired a hitman and Dayton had thought that night would be his last. It was supposed to be his last. He felt queasy about the fact that he had cheated death. A cat meowed from the window and it startled him. Dayton turned around and the cat jumped out of the window. He shook his head and moved towards his door. It was just a few doors away. As he made his way towards it, the door beside him swung open, and an elderly woman stepped out of it. He knew her too well. She was his neighbor, Deborah Mannon. A cat came out of the door and sat at her foot. It had gray fur with black stripes decorating it. “Good evening, Mrs. Mannon,” Dayton g
Eve McCullough stepped out of the Cadillac and the door was shut behind her by the driver. She stared at the mansion before her and smiled. She was finally back to him after all those years of traveling around. After going through a lot from her divorce from Rylan, she decided to travel around the world and gain knowledge but also help people. It has helped a lot from moving on. “Home sweet home,” she said with sarcasm. The trunk of the Cadillac was swung open by the driver and her luggage was brought out. Eve turned to him and nodded in appreciation. “Thank you, Bennett. You can drop it on the porch.”“Yes, Miss McCullough,” Bennett said, carrying her suitcases to the porch. He dropped them and took off immediately. Eve watched the car leave the estate before climbing the porch stairs. As she swung the door open, she found Karen rushing towards her. “Eve!” She shrieked. Eve’s lips spread out into a warm smile as her baby sister hugged her roughly. Eve was almost knocked out fr
Detective Reynolds stepped out of her black Acura. She was late for her first case. She walked towards the ruckus that unfolded before her. There was an ambulance with a couple of police cars outside the house. A yellow police tape surrounded the house and it stopped a little crowd that had gathered from infiltrating the scene. Jain walked up to the policewoman who seemed to be in charge and flashed her badge at her. “Detective Reynolds, LAPD,” she announced. The policewoman who was blonde in her uniform gazed at her as she held her belt. “Detective Reynolds?” She questioned. “I’ve never heard of you.”Jain clenched her jaws. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. “Well, you see. I’m new here,” Jain explained. “I just got transferred from San Diego.”The policeman raised an eyebrow at her indicating she wasn’t buying the story she was selling. At that moment, Stanley stepped out of the house and spotted Jain conversing with a policewoman. He had his phone in his hand which
Two weeks. It took just two weeks for Dayton and Rylan to get explicit information about the shareholders of the company. Rylan’s intuition had paid off. He knew that the shareholders were hiding something. There was no way anyone could have a stable income as such as them when they were invested in one or two companies. There had to be something that brought them more money. And he had found them out. It was like taking candy from a baby. Dayton had been a big help in finding things out. Countless nights he had worked with Williams while Rylan had been away on business ventures. He had joined them as best as he could, and it had finally paid off. They had all the documents they needed to frame them. It had taken time, but they had been able to discover all the secrets of the shareholders. Dayton came into the kitchen and placed a few documents on the counter. Rylan, who was making a smoothie, turned around to gaze at the documents. Rylan dropped the cup of smoothie and walked tow
As Frederick McCullough sat before the rest of the shareholders, his mind was racing with thoughts. Maybe it was because of the emergency meeting that everyone seemed to have denied calling up or the fact that the air in the room was tense. Whatever was going on, Frederick knew it wasn’t good. Something awful was about to happen. He could feel it in his guts. The door of the conference room swung open and Rylan Daystar stepped into the room. He was dressed in a black suit and his dark brown hair fell across his forehead. He looked gorgeous as he walked towards the conference table. Everybody watched him with despair, including no one Frederick McCullough who gritted his teeth too. Of course, it had to be Rylan. He knew that it would be him. Ever since he returned, things had been spiraling out of control. Frederick was aware of his plan, revenge—and it seemed it had already begun. The whole table was silent as Rylan took his seat. Frederick watched him tentatively. Rylan had a brigh
“Now faster!” Rylan instructed. Dayton swung his fist at him but Rylan dodged it with a slight crank of his head. He shook his head afterward unimpressed. Dayton swung another fist at Rylan but he caught it in his grasp with ease. Rylan had been teaching Dayton basic combat kills for weeks now, and it seemed he still wasn’t getting it. Rylan knew he couldn’t go hard on him. It had also taken him a while before he could completely learn all the martial arts skills. It had taken him two years to master them. “Come on, Dayton,” Rylan said, displaying his dissatisfaction. “Are you even trying?”Dayton gritted his teeth at those words and swung his both fists at Rylan. Rylan dodged the first one not before it grazed his nose bridge. However, he caught the second one right before it smashed against his lower abdomen. Rylan nodded at him, impressed. “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” he complimented. Dayton shook his head and ejected his hands from Rylan’s grip. He moved towards the en
“Did you find anything?” Detective Stanley asked with a cigarette in between his fingers. Jain who was going through a big file shook her head. They had been at this for days and they didn’t seem to be making any progress. Jain didn’t want to be the one to break the news to Stanley but it was obvious that sitting here all day wasn’t going to solve anything. They had to go out and look for answers. But that wasn’t going to happen yet. Why? It was because they didn’t have anywhere to start from. “What did you find?” She asked Stanley. “Other than the victim having a brother? Nothing.”Jain sighed in frustration. “And what is the victim’s brother’s name again?” She asked. Stanley closed the file he was reading and took another puff of his cigarette. Jain watched him push out the smoke from his nose. “Dayton Veeschoris,” he replied, rubbing his hand across the file’s surface. “And where is his brother? We can get useful information about our victim from him.” Stanley stood up from
VENICE, ITALY6 MONTHS LATER. “Stay away from me!” The man yelled as he ran through the dim streets for shelter. Behind him, a man dressed in a black suit with a black mask was running after him. In his hand was an FN 5’7. The man in black pursued him endlessly. When the Italian man stopped for shelter, he pulled out his gun from the pockets of his leather jacket and aimed at the man in black. “Rylan. Watch out,” Williams called in his ear. “Holy shit!” Rylan yelled on his breath as the man pointed the gun in his direction. Two shots were fired and Rylan managed to dodge the bullets before they could hit him. “Are you sure this is our guy?” Rylan asked. “Affirmative. Dominic De Rossi,” Williams replied through the comms. “I just hope you’re right.”“When have I ever been wrong?”Rylan rolled his eyes and fired back at Dominic. The shot whizzed past Dominic’s head and he scrambled to his feet immediately. Rylan saw this and decided to go after him. They were on the main stre
“They let you in?” Jain asked. “Of course they would.”Jain sighed and drank her cappuccino. They were both seated at a table in the cafe. It was at their favorite spot—the table by the window. It had been two days since Rylan had spoken to Frederick. He could still remember the shock on his face when he told him he had forgiven him. It wasn’t something that Frederick had expected. Frederick was aware that he despised him, but there was no need to keep that grudge anymore. The battle had been won. The best thing he could do now was move on and that was ok his agenda. Jain shook her head in disbelief. She was baffled that they would let Rylan into the prison to speak to Frederick McCullough. Well, he was Rylan Daystar. “So what did you tell him?”Rylan lifted his cup of cappuccino and took a sip from it. His eyes went to the parking lot outside the window. The morning sun washed all the cars there with its glorious light including his black Audi. “I told him that I forgave him.”Ja
The door opened and a figure dressed in suit stepped into the facility. The sounds of footsteps echoed through the hallway as the figure made its way toward the door. When it arrived, a guard was waiting by the door who was heavily armed. He opened the door and stepped forward. He had a grim look on his face. “Welcome, Mr. Daystar.”Rylan smiled at him and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Where is he?” He asked. “Waiting for you, sir.”Rylan nodded and stepped forward. He was in a prison facility, one of the most dreaded in the country. Rylan was here to see someone special to him. He would call it a mockery, but there was something he would love to say. This was the last thing on his bucket list before he could tag this mission as a success. They arrived at a room and the guard opened the door for Rylan. Inside the dimly lit room, a figure was sitting at a table dressed in orange. Rylan clenched his jaws and stepped into the room. He turned back to the guard who was still sta
“I thought we were going to head back home?” Jain asked as they headed into their Airbnb. “Well, Los Angeles is a two-hour flight back, and my pilots are off duty for the night,” Rylan said, closing the door behind them. Jain sighed and rubbed her neck nervously. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been in a room alone with a man. That had been with Jacob; five years ago. Rylan took off his suit jacket and hung it on the cloth rag before folding his undershirt. “If this makes you uncomfortable I could get a different room for myself.”Jain turned to him. “You could do that?” She asked. “I mean, there’s no need for that.”Rylan arched an eyebrow at her as he folded his sleeve once more. “Okay. If you say so.”Jain nodded and proceeded to the fireplace. She was gazing at the crackling fire as she held her shoulders. It brought her soothing warmth. There was a center table in the small living room and on it was a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne sitting in it. “Wou
WASHINGTON D.CRylan dropped his fork and reached for his napkin dapping his lips softly. Jain who was watching him had a glass of red wine in her hand. They were surrounded by people who also stayed in an expensive diner. One only Jain could dream of having. Rylan had changed her perspective on things over the last few days. She had managed to see the world through another pair of lenses; the expensive kind. Jain never knew that Rylan could be such a sweet person. She could vividly remember the first day she had met him. She and Stanley had been trying to solve the shootout that seemed to have happened to his club. When she had first laid eyes on him, she knew he was trouble. From the way he talked and moved, she assumed that he was as narcissistic and arrogant as the rest of all the billionaires in Los Angeles. But now as she sat across from him in an expensive diner, she couldn’t believe that she had been wrong the whole time. She had missed judging him, and that was fine by him
The party was lavish. There were lots of special dignitaries who filled the scene. The paparazzi wouldn’t stop flashing their cameras at them. This was the biggest party in the city. It was an awards party which would explain why there were so many famous people. A black Lamborghini arrived at the scene and halted on the red carpet. The door lifted and a figure stepped out of the car. It was Rylan Daystar who was dressed in a charcoal black suit with floral patterns and a shawl which was tied at his waist. He looked like a Frenchman. He moved to the other side of the car and opened the door. A woman stepped out of the car all dressed in a white gown. It was Jain, and she had a new look. Her platinum blonde hair which was always long was cut short now making her look dangerously beautiful. Rylan smiled as he watched her close the door of the Lamborghini. A valet came forward and Rylan threw the key to him. “Make sure you take good care of her.”“Yes sir,” the valet said, getting in
Rylan opened the door and stepped into the house. He had a grim look on his face. Arlene, who was seated on the couch engrossed with the television, looked up and saw him walk in. She immediately turned off the television and smiled at him. “Rylan. You’re back.”Rylan nodded. “Mom I’d like for you to meet someone,” he said standing aside from the door. Arlene raised an eyebrow at this. “Come in,” Rylan appeared to be speaking to the door until a figure stepped into the room.As Arlene saw the figure, she immediately flashed back. There was no way this was happening. He was real, and he was still alive. He was Paul Richmond. Arlene tried to speak but no words could converge. Paul looked at her and smiled. “Hey, Arlene,” he greeted. Arlene tried to look away but she couldn’t. His voice brought back so many memories. Like when Lauren had first told her that she was pregnant die him. Or when he had tried to combine her right outside the Vice chancellor’s office to come with him. Th
“I’m telling you son, the Los Angeles Angels might win this,” Paul said as he stepped out of Rylan’s Lamborghini. “Well, I hope you’re right, Dad. Because I have put a lot into this,” Rylan said, shutting the door of the car. Paul came to his son and wrapped his hand around his shoulder. “Trust me, son. You’ll see.”Rylan scoffed and they walked towards the entrance of the stadium. They had their seats reserved in the executive box. Rylan was here to watch his football team win the title. He was supposed to be here with Leah, but she told him she had some other pressing business to attend to. And so he decided to go with his father instead. There were now a few things left for Rylan before he could cross off his bucket list. Everything was going according to plan. “I saw you receiving the key to the city,” Paul said. “I couldn’t be more proud of you, Rylan.”Rylan turned to him. “You saw that? How?”Paul chuckled and patted his shoulders. “I was there.”Rylan’s eyes almost bul
“Do you have jitters?” Detective Jain Reynolds asked. Rylan turned to surprise. “Of course not.”“Well, you’ve been talking about your thigh for the last two minutes.”“I’m just anxious.”Jain turned to him. “About what?”Rylan kept silent for a few minutes to think about it. “About this, I guess?”Jain scoffed at his words. “You’ve been in front of a crowd a million times. This is the same thing.”“Well not exactly. I’ve never been in front of a crowd filled with police officers.”Jain laughed at his words. “Rylan Daystar is being intimidated by a crowd of police officers. Who would have thought?”Rylan rolled his eyes and placed his hands before him. They were both standing in a room alone. In a few minutes, they would be taken outside to be handed the key to the city. Rylan wasn’t exactly sure why he was there. When Jain had first told him about this at the cafe? He quickly declined the offer. The city saw him as a hero. But he wasn’t. He had so many flaws that would prevent